DUTCH defender Virgil van Dijk put pen to paper on a four-year deal with Celtic today then insisted the Scottish champions can help him realise his international dream.

The centre-back, who has three under 21 caps for his country, has signed a deal after leaving FC Groningen reported to be worth up to £2.5million.

The 21-year-old arrived in Glasgow for talks yesterday and leaves Groningen two years before his contract was due to expire.

Van Dijk, who follows 22-year-old Portuguese forward Amido Balde in joining Celtic this summer, said: "It feels very good and I'm very excited to be here.

"Celtic is the biggest club in Scotland and they also play in the Champions League. They're a fantastic club and when Celtic came in for me I was so excited. Everything here is good so I can't wait to get started.

"I hope to play many games for my country in the future but first of all I want to make things happen here."

Asked what he will bring to Neil Lennon's double-winning side, van Dijk said: "I'm a strong defender and I'm good in the air, but I also like to play football on the ground, and I hope that we'll do even better than we did last season."